A mother of two from Hove has won the Best Writer prize at the first Mumsnet Blogging Awards for her blog Hurrah for Gin.
Katie Kirby was one of almost 500 bloggers and vloggers who submitted entries in three categories
- Best writer – judged by bestselling novelist Lionel Shriver
- Best campaigner – judged by international lawyer, blogger and campaigner Miriam González Durántez
- Best vlogger – judged by journalist and vlogger Bryony Gordon
The judges each drew up a shortlist of their three favourite blogs. Then more than 6,000 Mumsnet users and bloggers were invited to vote for their winner in each category.
More than 300 blogs were submitted in the Best Writer category. Katie Kirby’s entry, The Chicken Pox Diaries, was praised for being incredibly clever and witty, with brilliant illustrations perfectly depicting the grittier side of parenting.
She was presented with her Best Writer award by Lionel Shriver in front of hundreds of bloggers at Mumsnet’s annual Blogfest event, which celebrates the best writing and biggest ideas.
Those attending the event, sponsored by Unilever, had the chance to learn more about how to harness the web to campaign for change to how motherhood affects creativity.
The speakers included Margaret Atwood, David Baddiel, Sandi Toksvig, Meera Syal and Shappi Khorsandi.
The Best Writer prize is lunch with a leading literary agent, Clare Conville, and SJ Watson, the bestselling author of Before I Go to Sleep.
Katie Kirby said: “I was beyond thrilled to make the finals of the Mumsnet blogging awards.
“The fact that Lionel Shriver read and enjoyed my blog was good enough for me. To win is just the icing on the cake.”
Mumsnet chief executive Justine Roberts said: “Since we launched the Mumsnet Bloggers’ Network four years ago we’ve been overwhelmed by the talent and innovation of our bloggers.
“We thought it was time to celebrate their brilliance and to showcase the best blogs around.
“Congratulations to our three excellent winners.”
For more information about the Mumsnet Blogfest, click here.
For more information about the Mumsnet Blogging Awards, click here.
Mumsnet is Britain’s biggest network for parents, with more than 71 million page views and 14 million visits a month.
It has 180 local sites and a network of more than 7,000 bloggers. It regularly campaigns on issues including support for families of children with special educational needs, improvements in miscarriage care and freedom of speech on the internet.
